Chicago teen Payton Pitts earned acceptance to all six Ivy League schools he applied to and chose Harvard, where he is on the men’s basketball roster as a guard.
Who he is
Pitts is a Chicago native and Francis W. Parker School graduate who was accepted to Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Penn, Columbia, and Cornell on Ivy Day, an outcome highlighted by local news coverage and school leaders praising his academic and leadership record. He was also admitted to additional elite institutions, including Stanford and Morehouse, underscoring both academic strength and a broad admissions sweep beyond the Ivy League cohort.
Why Harvard
After weighing options following Ivy Day, Pitts selected Harvard, aligning top-tier academics with Division I athletics by joining the Crimson basketball program, jersey No. 24. Public roster and player pages list him as a 6’2″, 180 lb guard from Chicago and indicate his progression into his sophomore season at Harvard.
Academic and leadership profile
Reports note Pitts maintained straight‑A grades, played violin, and helped revive his school’s Black Student Union, reflecting a strong blend of scholarship, arts, and community leadership. Faculty and administrators cited his warmth, humility, and respect for classmates and teachers, qualities often highlighted alongside his academic and extracurricular accomplishments in coverage of his admissions success.
Basketball standing
Harvard Athletics documents Pitts on the 2025–26 roster with prior non‑league appearances and a team sportsmanship honor, indicating an active role within the program as he develops at the collegiate level. Major sports outlets list his position, physical profile, and class status, corroborating his spot with Harvard men’s basketball
